Brighton were due to play French second-tier side Annecy on Saturday, but the pre-season friendly was called off due to damage to the pitch on which Fabien Hürzeler’s side were scheduled to practice.
Donald Trump was one of the world leaders attending the G7 summit (Image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Brighton have canceled a pre-season friendly in France after their training camp was disrupted by a helicopter used at the recent Group of Seven summit. The Seagulls were scheduled to be based at a hotel in Evian-les-Bains and train on nearby pitches from Thursday 23 July to Saturday 1 August.
However, the same stadium was used as a landing pad when world leaders flew in for the G7 summit in the French spa town in June. Those who landed included US President Donald Trump, former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Athletic reported that Brighton staff arrived at the hotel on Wednesday to prepare for the camp but reported that the pitch was unusable. The camp has been canceled and Saturday’s Ligue 2 friendly against Annecy will not be played.
Brighton are currently arranging an alternative camp in Austria, with a match against French top team Strasbourg scheduled to take place next Saturday. Fabian Hürzeler’s side will remain in England and play an internal match behind closed doors on Saturday before heading to Austria on Sunday.
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Brighton, who have returned from Austria, will host Italian opponents Roma and Bologna before the start of the new Premier League season. The 2026-27 season was a busy one, with the Seagulls qualifying for the Conference League Playoffs.
The draw will take place on Monday, August 3rd. Brighton start their Premier League season at home to Aston Villa before traveling to Chelsea the following weekend.
Hürzeler has already brought in six new players this summer, including Tottenham centre-back Luka Vuskovic for a club-record £46m. This comes after Brighton sold Jan Paul van Hecke to Tottenham for £52m.
Where will Brighton finish this season? Let us know your predictions in the comments section.
Brighton’s preparations for the new season have been suspended (Image: Lee Parker – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Brighton finished eighth last season and “challenged the establishment”, Haseler said. “I think overall it went well,” the German said in a post-season club media interview.
“Obviously, there’s still room for improvement and I still think we could have done better throughout the season, but overall we faced a lot of adversity and faced a lot of challenges…but we always overcame it and always came back stronger.”
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